OVER £1 million pounds of overpaid Covid-19 grants to Cornwall businesses are still yet to be recovered by Cornwall Council and the Conservative government. 

A Freedom of Information (FoI) request from The Packet has revealed that Cornwall Council, in conjunction with The Department for Business, Energy & Industry Strategy, is still chasing over £1 million in overpaid Covid-19 grants dating back to spring 2020. 

The overall figure yet to be recovered stands at £1,108,964, with £2,021,825 in overpaid grants having already been recovered. 

When asked whether any of the overpayments were fraudulent claims, Cornwall Council said: "Customer and business operations reported any concerns to the Fraud Team, who undertook numerous enquires/verification work in connection with Small Business Grant Fund and the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure Grant Fund."

The Packet has organised the data into an interactive graph you can explore below.

"A total of 551 applications were reviewed by the Fraud Team, none of which were found to be fraudulent claims."

In the FoI, Cornwall Council claims that grant payments were made as quickly as possible following an application or following the guidance received from central government.

A number of reasons why the grants were flagged as being overpaid were given including: 

  • Business not mandated to close
  • Liability ended
  • Bankruptcy
  • Potential winding up
  • Duplicate application
  • Over state aid limits
  • Business not trading
  • Premises removed from the rating list
  • Not entitled to SBRR

The authority says it is still working in conjunction with The Department for Business, Energy & Industry Strategy (BEIS) to collect the outstanding balances.